Wagon bed



May 8, 1923- 1,454,179 L. L. MOOTHART WAGON BED Filed May 25 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l May 8, 1923 2 1,454,179

L. L. MOOTHART WAGON BED Filed May 25, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet Z Patented May 8, 1923.

ET E f 12:

' "LYMAN L MOOTHART, or JUnIUs, soU rn'nAKorA.

WAGON BED."

. Application filed May 25, 1922. Serial No. 563,593. a I

' a full, clear, and exact description of .the inventiom-such as will enable others skilled in the art to which. it ap'pertains to make and use the same.

. .The object of the invention is to provide a wagon body and end gate constructionwherein the end gate serves as the transverse tie or brace, whereby spreading of the sides of the body 1s prevented so tha-t the use of the transverse bracing chains and similar devices are rendered unnecessary and the.

positioning of the end gate may serve as a means for effectively bracing the body, and more particularly to provide an end gate mounting wherebyv aninterlocking connection isprovided between the end gate and the side walls of the wagon'body which, while affording an opportunity for sliding movement of the end gate serves to prevent displacement of the side walls of the box; and to provide in connection withan end gate mounting which is adaptedto permit sliding movement thereof, a means whereby the lower section of the end gate, or the portion of the end gaterepresenting the back of the main wagonbody, may be moved ivotall or swung outwardly to permit of discharging the contents of the wagon body by a dumping or tiltii'ig action; and with these objects in view, the invention consists in a construction, combination and relation of parts of which a preferred embodiment shown in the accompanying drawin s,

wherein Figure l is a perspective View of a wagon body embodying the invention. 7 F igure 9. is a planview of .the same.

Figure 3 is a longitudinalsectional view Iv thereof showing in dottedlines the extended I position of the main gate body cleat.

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional View of the main gate cleats and adjacent portions of the end gate body in the interlocked relation.

Figure 5 is a similar view showing the body cleat extended to permit of swinging movement of the end gate. a

Figure 6 is a detail section showing-wing yj'ointbetween the upperand lower tail board members.

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The illustrated embodiment of the in vention contemplates 'a mam wagon hody'or box 10,;s1irmounted by a renfiovable rack or extension body 11, secured, in position, in

the ordinary or any conventional wayasthrough theengagement of standards 12,. LVlth clips 13. The main wagon body and cnred at-its end edges to the side walls of the body in which it is, fitted by meansof interlocking cleats. The cleats of the' extension body end gate consists of theontwardly 1 members ofv the extension body 11, and the vmoval bynpward displacementand is se-gdirected guid'e' groove or channel members 16, which are secured vto the ends of the side end gate member 17 having aninwardly di reoted rib" or tongue '18, for engagement 1 with said. guide groove or channel and hence 7 .forming an interlock therewith which ontivard displacementof theside walls of thefbody with relation to' the end gate 15.

or with relation to'the opposite side wall isprevented. In other words the interlocked relation between the body andthe end gate cleats serves atransverse brace by which ;the side walls of the body are held against spreading action." h j I lhecleats 19and, 20 for the lower-or main .body and gate of similar construction to those describedin reference to the. extension body and gate 111 so fareas the inter- .locking. feature is concerned, in that the body men'lb'er 19 1s providedwvith an ontwa-rdly directed or facing guide channel. or groove 21, forthe reception of an inwardly directed r1b,or'tongue; 22 on the endgate' member to adapt the end-gatetofserv'e; as a n he side brace to prevent spreading actiono walls of thegmain wagon body.

With reference to the mainend gate cleats however, there is a difference in construction as compared with those of the end gate for the extension body, in that the body. members of the former are hingedlymounted as indicated at 23 upon the side walls of the main wagon body, and are adapted to swing out-' wardly and'rearwardly to remove them from the path of rearward movement of the end CID gate of the main wagon body, and at its upper edge said main end gate is hingedly mounted by means of hooks 2st, engaging eyes at the lower edge oi the upper end gate, said hooks being formed on the upper ends of the main end gate cleats 20 and the eyes in the lower ends of the'extension' end gate cleats 15, so that the main orlower end gate may be swung outward or rearward at its lower edge to permit of the discharge of the contents of the wagon body by a dumping or tilting movement thereof.

The main wagon body cleats .19 are of cross-sectional angular construction to occupy the angles betweenthe inner surfaces of the rear ends of the wagon body sides and the plane of the end gate, and as thehinges are arranged at the extreme ends of the side walls of the body, it will be seen that the swinging movement of the cleat member 19 trom the position shown in Figure 5, to that seen in Figure 4, causes the guide channel or 'roove which is'carried by the tree wing or the cleat 19 to traverse a for wardly and outwardly directed path, to effect engagement of said channel or groove with the rib or tongue of the end gate cleat 20, when the end gate is in its normal or closed position. Therefore with the parts in the normal position indicated in Figural, should it be desired to discharge the contents of the wagon body through a rearward swinging movement of the main body end gate, the body cleats oi the .main end gate may be swung out of engagement with the entl gate cleats and to the inoperative position indicated in Figure 5, to thereby disengage their guide channels or grooves from the ribs or tongues of the end gate cleats and remove the body cleats from the path of the end gate.

In order to prei ent displacement of the main body cleats through pressure applied to the end gate from within the wagon body, however, latches 25 in the form of bolts are mounted on the body cleats to engage sockets .26 in the end gate, and are yieldingly held in their engaged positions,-that is when the guide channels or grooves are .in interlocking relation with the ribs or tongules,by springs 26. To release the end gate for swinging movement, it is necessary to disengage the locking bolts'or latches and then swing the body cleats to the inoperative position.

WVhere a similar relation desired between the front end walls of the main or extension wagon body or both, and the side walls thereof that is to say, with a view to pern'iittingthe upward sliding movement or displacement of the front end walls, a similar set of interlockingcleats may be employed as above described, between the rear end gate and the side walls of the extension body. Obviously the special construction of the body cleats-as described in connection with the rear end gate of the main body is suitable only and isdesigned particularly for the rear end of the body for the purpose of permitting the dumping of the contents end gate and have an interlocking engagement for sliding movement parallel with the plane of the end gate, one of said cleat members having an outwardly directed channel or groove and the other having an inwardly 'tlirected rib or tongue, and the side wall cleat members being hingedly mounted for sn 'ingmg-movement out of the path of the rearward movement ot'the end gate, and a spring actuated latch or bolt carried by said side wall cleat member for engagement with a socket in the end gate.

2. A wagon body having end gate cleats of which the members are carried by the side walls oi the body and the end gate, respectively, and having interlocking engagement for siiding movement parallel with the plane the end gate, one of said cleats having an outwardly directed channel or groove and the other having an inwardly directed rib or tongue, the second-named cleat havingan opening formed therethrough transversely of the rib in a plane at right anglesto the end gate, the firsanamed cleat being hingedly mounted for swinging movement out of the path of the rearward movement of the end gate, and a spring actuated latch or bolt carried by the swingable cleat for engagement in the said opening of the said second-named cleat. f

In testimony whereof, I haveailixed my signature, in the presence of twofwitnessesi LYlilANL. MOOTHART.

Witnesses MARTIN F. BERTHER, 

